


Fell for You

by Pidge_is_awesome



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: 5+1 Things, Captain Yahaba Shigeru, Fluff, Getting Together, Happy Ending, I had to fix this bc i found out about their canon sibling count, Ignoring Feelings, Kyoutani makes tamales bc i said so, M/M, Protective yahaba, Study Date, bus rides
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-06
Updated: 2020-11-06
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:21:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,440
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26985862
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pidge_is_awesome/pseuds/Pidge_is_awesome
Summary: Alt title: 5 times Yahaba fell, 1 time Kyoutani didYahaba is c l u m s y,Rated T for language
Relationships: Kyoutani Kentarou/Yahaba Shigeru
Comments: 9
Kudos: 228





	Fell for You

**Author's Note:**

> I've had this in my drafts for months,, i hope you enjoy!!

Some people might say Yahaba was a rather coordinated person. Some might even go as far to say he was smooth. Those people were kind, but dead wrong. The clumsy brunet had tripped over his own feet on multiple occasions, leading to Watari triple knotting his shoes. He gave a false impression because of his skill on the court, when he was focused and strong, but the second he stepped off he was a mess in a blue jacket. Luckily his teammates had fast reflexes and an overwhelming amount of protective energy. Unfortunately, they weren't always fast enough, resulting in at least 10 walls that had the pleasure of flattening his face. Sometimes though, it led to unexpected, but rewarding, events.

His first year at Aoba Johsai High School, Yahaba had one awful morning where he slept through all three of his alarms. When he finally woke up he'd had a major freakout. He threw his clothes on and ran out the house, shirt untucked, hair in disarray, toast in the mouth, the whole shebang. He pulled his school sweater over his clothes as he ran, hopping the late bus, and arriving at the school nearly 15 minutes late. He grabbed his books from his locker and started to jog towards his class, hoping that maybe, just maybe, his teacher would be just as late as he was about to be.

He ran around the corner to his class, hoping that no one else would be in the halls this late. But as be rounded the corner, he locked eyes with a guy his age standing directly in front of him, blocking his way. He tried to slow down but his feet betrayed him and he tripped, falling directly into the boy's open arms. The boy, using his quick thinking, had braced himself for the hit and remained standing, but stumbled back a bit. He looked down at an embarrassed Yahaba trying to regain some semblance of dignity. Yahaba used the guy's muscular arms to up to help him stand back up and jump away. 

.

The boy he ran into was the quiet kid from his history class, Kyoutani something or other. He had an intimidating air about him with the appearance of a 90's bully. His hair was blond, with two black lines on each side. He had eyeliner on, smudged under his eyes, and his school shirt was wrinkled and untucked. His school jacket was tied around his waist, his pants were ripped and his tie was nowhere to be seen. He hadn't moved from the spot where he'd been assaulted, but he looked up at Yahaba with an indescribable look. Quickly, he shoved his hands in his pockets and looked down.

Yahaba tried to explain himself. "I'm really sorry, I'm late and everything is going wrong and I'm a mess and-"

"I can tell." The blond didn't look up.

Well that was rude. Yahaba furrowed his brows and straightened up. Well, what's one more sucky thing, right? And honestly what did he expect from Kyoutani? Anyway, he still had to get to class, he was missing math, a class he couldn't afford to miss.

"Oh. Well, I have to get to class, sorry again. Thanks for catching me." Yahaba gave him a quick polite smile and a very subtle grimace before he turned to finish walking down the hall.

He felt a hand on his arm. He looked up and made eye contact with Kyoutani. 

"Uh...Watch out." The blond quickly let go when they made eye contact.

It was probably a poor attempt at a threat. He looked angry, but that could just be the lack of eyebrows. Something about it pissed him off. 

Yahaba nodded, and without as much acid as he could muster, responded. "Yeah...I'll do that." 

Yahaba was 20 minutes late to class, but at least Watari had written him up a second batch of notes.

◇◇◇

"C'mon Iwa!!" Oikawa called his best friend of many years, who was steadfastly refusing to pick him up. 

"I carried you yesterday." Iwa took a bite of his food and put his arm over the brunet's shoulders, "Why do you want me to anyway?"

Oikawa pointed to the tree a couple yards away. Up high were tons of ripe peaches. Oikawa tugged on Iwa's shirt softly, pouting, like that was gonna make any difference. Yahaba rolled his eyes and stood up.

"I got it." He grabbed onto the tree and tried to find a foothold. 

Watari tried to argue against it and Iwazumi shook his head. Oikawa waited anxiously.

"Be careful up there, you could get hurt if you fell!" Oikawa called.

Obviously. One foot it front of the other, foot hold, hand hold. It wasn't a difficult task, but it was not a very strong tree either. Yahaba was sure that he'd climbed weaker trees as a kid, this was a breeze. He reached the branch, and started scooting along it to get to the good peaches. From where he was at he could grab a bunch of peaches, enough for cobbler, or a pie. He grabbed a couple and tossed them down to Oikawa, who gladly caught each one. He grabbed all the ones right next to him when he saw that there was just one more near him, ever so slightly out of reach, so he just barely leaned forward to grab it. Unfortunately, his body was not as small as it once was. The only thing he heard before he fell was the crack of the branch snapping. He saw Oikawa out of the corner of his eye running towards him, and Iwazumi trying to get up from where he was sitting, but he knew they were not going to get there in time. So, he closed his eyes and braced himself for impact. He knew it was going to hurt, but maybe the hospital room wouldn't smell so terrible. Maybe the nurse would be hot. Maybe he wouldn't be permanently damaged. He could only hear the rush of wind against his ears before it abruptly stopped.

He didn't feel like he was in a lot of pain, but that could just be the shock and adrenaline. Sometimes adrenaline lied, and he really wasn't excited to see the damage, but he heard a groan above him, and felt himself being jostled. He slowly opened his eyes, which were met with a set the color of golden honey. They looked just about as shocked as Yahaba felt. He looked around at his surroundings. A few feet away, Oikawa breathed a sigh of relief and Iwazumi clutched his chest. He was a couple feet off of the ground, in Kyoutani's incredibly powerful arms. His face was slightly contorted because of the pain from the impact, it was incredible that he hadn't collapsed as well. Yahaba's hands still held onto the peach he had risked his life to grab. 

"Thank you Mad Dog!" Oikawa called.

Mad Dog... Oh right, that was Oikawa's nickname for the uncooperative second year. Kyoutani grunted and set Yahaba gently down on his feet. He shoved his hands in his pockets and immediately turned to walk away. It was kinda sweet, he was like a knight in shining armor, he didn't ask for graditude. Yahaba shook his head, what was with that thought? Kyoutani was irritating, and pissed him off. But, Yahaba thought, he could be kind?

"Hey!" Yahaba yelled at him, surprisingly forceful.

Kyoutani's head shot around, he looked anxious, a face Yahaba didn't expect to see. Yahaba walked up to him and grabbed one of his hands, placing the peach in it.

"Thanks for catching me... again." He smiled and closed Kyoutani's fingers around the peach for him. 

"...Watch out"

Yahaba thought he must've imagined it, but he could have sworn he saw the corners of Kyoutani's mouth quirk up. Yahaba could see why some people could find him intimidating, but looking at him now, he couldn't imagine being afraid. He wasn't really all that scary. A pain in the ass? Sure. Annoying at times? Definitely. Scary? Not even a little. He turned and walked back to the team, leaving Kyoutani standing there, frozen in place.

◇◇◇

It had been a couple weeks since they'd lost to Karasuno. A couple weeks since Yahaba had thrown Kyoutani against a wall. Kyoutani hadn't talked to him since, but he showed up to practices, official and unofficial. He mostly spoke in grunts and nods, an occasional growl. Each action caused him to live up to his nickname. Each action caused Oikawa to get more exasperated. Yahaba wasn't sure how he was going to control him next year, but he was kind of looking forward to finding out.

Yahaba was walking with Watari through the school halls after class. He had his books in his hands, stacked pretty high. His book bag strap had broken, so he was forced to carry them.

"Please let me carry some of those, you know you're going to drop them." Watari rolled his eyes and reached out his arms to take some, his arms which only had a physics book and a math book in them.

Yahaba stubbornly raised his arms away from Watari. "You're carrying enough! I can do this!" 

As if there was some sort of deity of bad luck out to prove him wrong, they turned a corner and Yahaba was faced once again with their very own angry spiker. He ran directly into Kyoutani. His books fell to the floor and the force caused him to fall back. Kyoutani's fast reflexes came in handy as he quickly grabbed Yahaba's forearm to stop him from falling, but his reflexes did not account for their combined weight and sent the both of them to the floor. On the way down, he pulled on the brunet's forearm in his hands, wrapping his arms around Yahaba and twisting so he was the one that hit the ground as Yahaba landed on him.

Yahaba could hear Watari's gasp in the background, but he was more concerned with the boy whose body he had landed on. Kyoutani had curled up to avoid a nasty impact, but he lay still. Seemed like he had the wind knocked out of him. He let go of Yahaba and let him roll out of his arms. Yahaba sat up quickly next to him. That could have hurt really bad. His eyes were shut and he let out a hiss of air from the pain.

"Well done Yahaba, you broke our future ace." Watari kneeled down next to them and looked Kyoutani up and down. "If he didn't look injured I'd laugh."

The blonde opened his eyes and sat up, rubbing the shoulder he'd landed on. He stretched it and glared at Yahaba. Watari stood and circled him, checking him for injuries. People had looked over to see the commotion, but since it was the end of the day, only a few people were around to witness the humiliation. 

"Watch... out." He seethed.

"I think he's fine." Watari smiled gently, chuckling to himself.

"I didn't do it on purpose!" Yahaba defended himself.

Kyoutani shook his head and sat up on one knee, and began picking up papers and books and stacking them in separate piles. 

"So, not like slamming me against the wall then?" Yahaba couldn't see his face, but the cadence of his words made it feel like friendly banter.

"No, not like that." Yahaba narrowed his eyes as he smiled, he was a bit wary laughing at it, on the off chance it wasn't.

He sat up on his knees to help, but Mad Dog was already done. Yahaba looked down at the stacks and noticed that they were equal sizes, and his pile was a lot smaller. Half of his books were in Kyoutani's stack. The brunet looked up at him in confusion. Kyoutani brushed the it off and picked up one of the stacks. 

Yahaba looked at Watari for help, but he just shrugged and gestured to the other pile of books.

"Y'know some of those books are mine, right?" He picked up the other stack and stood up by him. 

Kyoutani mumbled something incoherent under his breath.

"What was that?" He readjusted the stack in his arms so he could hold it comfortably. He grumbled to himself, he had to admit it was a lot easier like this.

"I don't want you to fall into someone else, Cream Puff."

Yahaba gasped. "Thats rude, Mad Dog. I'm perfectly capable."

"Perfectly capable of hurting someone else with your clumsy ass." He bit back.

Watari smiled but started walking. "C'mon lovebirds, I'm not waiting all day." 

Kyoutani looked like he objected Watari's statement but followed suit, heading in the direction of Yahaba's locker. He avoided eye contact, but Yahaba could tell his face was red. Maybe he was hot? It was a pretty hot day. 

"Kyoutani, you should come with us to get some ice cream. It's such a warm day today, seems like a good idea." 

Yahaba bumped his shoulder and smiled. "Yeah man, join us! I'll buy your cone to make up for the fall."

Kyoutani furrowed his brow as he looked at the both of them, but nodded his head. His angry demeanor just wasn't strong enough to object to free food. 

◇◇◇

Apparently, both Yahaba and Kyoutani took the same bus home. Usually after school Yahaba stayed to talk shit with the third years, which had prevented them from figuring it out sooner. The three of them had started having lunch together, so inevitably it had come up. Today was different though, today Kyoutani waited for him. 

"Can't believe you waited for me, how sweet." He elbowed him as they walked.

"Shut up or I won't do it again, asshole." Kyoutani adjusted his bag and looked the other direction. 

"Empty threats don't suit you, Kyou." He took a seat at the bus stop, nearly tripping over a rock as he sat down.

"Being competent apparently doesn't suit you." He sat down beside him, smoothly, as if to spite him.

"Cruel, but fair," he put his elbows on his knees as he leaned forward, "I've got two left feet."

Kyoutani nodded and took a sip from his water bottle.

"You don't have to agree." Yahaba grabbed the water bottle from the blond's hands and took a sip himself. 

They'd become a lot closer in the past month. Watari had invited him to after practice meals, lunch, break times, etc. So they'd got to know each other quite a bit better. Yahaba knew that his favorite food was Hamima chicken, that he'd started volleyball because of his dad, and exactly what brand of eyeliner he used (Yahaba was planning on buying him another pencil because he'd said his was getting shorter by the day). Yahaba was pretty sure that they were close enough by now to share water, but judging by the redness in Kyoutani's face he figured he must have miscalculated. He played it off by smiling mischievously and putting the bottle back in the blond's hands. Kyoutani's mouth was parted slightly, still frozen in place. He must be angry.

"Any plans tonight?" He lowered his voice, in order to tease him by the double meaning of his words.

If Kyoutani's face wasn't red before it was sure as hell red now. "Uh... I... um...." He shook his head. "Oh, uh my family is making tamales tonight. My mom wants to share them with our neighbors." He scratched the back of his neck.

"Hmmm, I'd love to try one someday, I've heard they're good." Yahaba nodded at the bus that was rolling up to the curb and stood up.

"I could bring you one..." Kyoutani muttered under his breath, shoving his hands in his pockets as he stood. 

"Really?" Yahaba looked at him incredulously. It was a sweet offer, but there was something different about it. There was something more personal about him planning on making it for him. He smiled, it felt nice.

The two of them climbed onto the crowded bus. They found two empty seats in the back, Kyoutani plopped down and put his bag to the side, pulling out his schoolbook. They sat in a comfortable silence while the bus moved. The light shone through the window, lighting up Kyoutani as he worked on his homework. Every so often he would nudge Yahaba, and the brunet would turn, look at the problem, then point to the part that he got wrong and watch him fix it. 

Yahaba noticed that his brows would furrow as he worked on an especially hard problem. The evening light made his hair glow, and cast shadows across his body. His face would scrunch up, every once in a while, then he would flip his pencil and erase something. His shoulders were tense, math was not his best subject. Yahaba felt himself yearning to reach up and rub his shoulders, give him a moment of relief. Purely in a platonic way. To help him with his homework...Nothing more. 

The bus came to a stop, and an elderly couple stepped on board, along with quite a few others. Kyoutani looked up, closed his book, put it in his bag and stood up. 

"Is this your stop?" Yahaba felt a little disappointed at how short it had been but tried to cover it up.

Kyoutani looked confused. "No? I was standing up for them." He gestured to the couple that were hobbling towards the back of the bus.

Oh. Yahaba joined him on his feet and smiled at the couple as they sat down. They thanked them and sat down, holding hands as they did. They looked kind, the taller woman grabbed Kyoutani's hands and thanked him, speaking in Spanish to her partner. Kyoutani responded quietly and bowed to her before he stepped back. Yahaba's smile grew. The shorter woman said something, pointing at Yahaba as she spoke. Kyoutani turned red but shook his head. Yahaba gave him a confused look, but Kyoutani looked away sheepishly, grabbing onto the bus pole. Yahaba grabbed the loop that hung down from the top of the bus, it was a bit crowded now. He turned towards Kyoutani but looked out the window as the bus began to move again. He thought it was sweet that he was so respectful of those people, since he was hardly ever respectful to anyone other than Iwaizumi.

"Kyou?" He readjusted his feet, trying to think of something to talk about. 

He wanted to keep talking with him, he couldn't explain it. Kyoutani turned to face him. His body language looked tired, it was late, but his eyes looked attentive, like he was hanging onto everything that Yahaba said. He had sort of a resting angry face that scared people off, but not Yahaba.

"Uh...could you tell me how you make tamales?" He rubbed the back of his calf with his other foot. He wasn't ready to ask the question he really wanted to.

Kyoutani looked confused, but seemed to understand. "Sure." He stood still for a second, like he was trying to remember.

All of the sudden, the bus made a sharp stop. Yahaba was still only standing on one foot. The guy in front of him fell back a little, knocking into him. He lost his footing and the loop he was holding onto slipped out of his grasp. Kyoutani's eyes widened and he stuck his arm out to catch the falling brunet. The people around them gasped, but Yahaba had safely landed in Kyoutani's arms. He placed his hand on the blond's chest to steady himself. The couple congratulated him on his fast reflexes, and he blushed a bit. Yahaba thought it was cute... wait, no, not cute, definitely not cute. 

"Watch out, Captain." He grunted and lifted him back up into a standing position. 

Yahaba felt his face heat up, because of the humiliation of falling, nothing else. He wanted to protest that he wasn't the captain yet but the words wouldn't come out, his throat was dry. He swallowed quickly, despite its difficulty. 

"Hold onto the pole instead, Cream Puff." He moved over a bit so both of them could hold it.

"One day you're gonna run out of nicknames for me, what'll you do then?" He smirked.

"Not a problem for today, Ikuradon." Kyoutani's eyes had softened.

More people got on the bus than got off it. Yahaba grabbed the pole, but the amount of people on the bus forced him much closer to Kyoutani, who was beginning to look rather flustered. The bus started moving again. On the pole, their hands were almost touching. Yahaba's pinky finger was right next to Kyoutani's index finger. Kyoutani shifted his eyes towards the ground, anywhere but Yahaba's face. The man behind Yahaba bumped him again, obviously on accident but as he fell forward onto Kyoutani's chest Yahaba felt personally slighted. He felt a hand on his hip, like it was instinct. He righted himself, mumbling an apology. The hand on his hip disappeared, jerked away like it'd been burned. 

Kyoutani's hand regripped the pole, accidentally wrapping around Yahaba's. He flinched away, and the bus came to a stop. The tension between them snapped like a twig, and Kyoutani backed up quickly. Kyoutani's face was red and nervous as he grabbed his bag and began to push through the crowd of people. 

"S-see you tomorrow, Mad Dog." Yahaba forced a half smile. 

Kyoutani froze, nodded, then ran off the bus like he was running away from a serial killer. Yahaba watched the spot where he had been standing. 

What was that?

◇◇◇

It was a beautiful spring day as Yahaba walked with Watari and Kyoutani through the school after practice. Watari was just finishing telling him about his new favorite show. As Kyoutani and Yahaba listened, they with hmm's and ah's here and there. Watari didn't mind, he kept talking, telling them the worst part and the funniest joke. When he would laugh he would accidentally bump into one of them, then when they bumped him back he bounced between them like the ball in the pinball machine. As they neared the end of the hallway, Watari split to head home, so he patted the both of them on the back and headed off in the other direction. 

The two remaining volleyball players walked to Yahaba's locker. Mad Dog leaned against neighbouring locker so he could look at the Captain while he pulled his books out.

"Um… do you want to study tonight? We have that science test tomorrow and I need someone to go over the material with. My parents aren't home so it's not like I can ask them, and my little brother is spending the night at a friend's." Yahaba grabbed his science book and put it in his bag. 

Kyoutani shrugged. "...Sure, I'll text my mom."

They walked side by side to the bus station, something that had become daily routine. Most days, Kyoutani waited for him. Of course there were days when he had to hurry home to watch his niece, but most days he spent by Yahaba's side. Yahaba had suggested to have it at his house because Kyoutani's was hectic, he talked constantly about the lack of privacy. Obviously he loved his family and often appreciated just how chaotic they could be, but sometimes he just needed a break. Today Yahaba could tell he was close to his breaking point, so the physics test was a perfect excuse, he was just going to spend the evening alone otherwise.

The bus ride was smooth, not as crowded as the first time they rode together. There were seats open so they were able to finish their homework. They settled into their routine, simple and easy. Kyoutani leaned against him a little more than usual, so when Yahaba leaned in to check the problems, the top of his head brushed against Kyoutani's jaw, and his chin nearly allowed itself to rest on his shoulder. Each time he pulled back, he felt something in his stomach twist. Kyoutani would look at him for just a beat too long, then force his gaze away. Yahaba looked over in time to catch his eyes before the bus stopped.

"That's our stop, Kyou." He pushed the slightly shorter boy out of his seat. 

Kyoutani offered his hand and pulled Yahaba up and out of the bus. 

"Where to?" He looked around the area, unsure which street led to Yahaba's house.

Yahaba pointed in the direction, but looked down where their hands were still connected. Kyoutani followed his gaze and immediately drew his hand back, putting his hand in his pocket. Yahaba let his abandoned hand fall to his side as he started walking home. 

They arrived at his house in little to no time at all. The lights were off and the driveway empty, his parents had already left. They wouldn't be back for a few days. He pulled the keys out of his pocket and unlocked the front door, letting Kyoutani in first so he could close and lock the door behind him. 

"Would you hit the lights Kyou? They're right next to you." He gestured to the wall in the entryway. 

Kyoutani nodded, slipped off his shoes and flipped the light switch. The house was pretty. He was standing in the living room, there was some hardwood stairs and a hallway that led to the kitchen. At the entryway there were a couple pictures of a very cute baby Yahaba and his two brothers. Kyoutani picked up one in front, his smile was huge, and missing his two front teeth. He was practically squeezing a a stuffed fish to death. 

"Nooo don't look at those they're embarrassing!" He whined as he took off his shoes.

Kyoutani placed the photo down, turning to look at the subject of the image. 

"Not much has changed." He noted, looking at the cream puff style hair he sported both as a 5 year old and now.

The only difference was, in the picture, he had white hair.

Yahaba rolled his eyes, obviously not interested in giving any sort of explanation, and gestured for Kyoutani to follow him up the stairs. They walked into a fairly tidy room, the bed was made, the floor was hardwood, with a clean blue rug that looked comfortable enough to sit on. There were a few articles of clothing strewn about the room but Yahaba quickly snagged them and tossed them into the dirty clothes hamper on the other side of his room. The room had a primarily white and light blue color palette, similar to their school colors, but it also had a couple random things thrown in for good measure. A lava lamp was plugged in on the bedside table, it looked old and out of place, but strangely seemed to fit Yahaba. A tapastry hung across the back of his bed, a painting of some sort. Kinda basic, but kinda cute. His volleyball shirt hung on the wall above a basket of miscellaneous junk. A volleyball had rolled into the corner of the room. 

Kyoutani took a seat on the floor at the side of the bed, pulled his book out and flipped to the study questions. Yahaba turned on some soft indie background music, to prevent an awkward silence, then grabbed his book from his bag. He chose to flop belly first onto his bed, landing so he could look over Kyoutani's shoulder. He kicked his legs back and forth in the air, letting out some of pent of energy he'd been keeping inside since the end of practice. Flipping through the pages, he landed on the chapter questions, ran his finger down the list, and selected a good starter.

"Atoms at rest are said to be in what state?" Yahaba asked, leaning on his elbows.

Kyoutani shut his book with a slight thud, then closed his eyes in thought, "...Static equilibrium?"

"Correct!" He nodded. "Objects moving in a straight line are said to be in...?" 

"Kin-etic? No… um....Dynamic equilibrium?"

Yahaba smiled at the slip up but nodded. "Good job."

Kyoutani looked down at his book. "Why was Copper- Coper- no... Coppar? Shit. Why was Coppernic's theory heavily refuted?"

"Copernicus?" Yahaba questioned.

"Yeah that guy." Kyoutani waved it off.

Yahaba's smile grew.

"Wipe that shit eating grin off your face before I punch it off." He growled. 

Yahaba just rolled his eyes, but hiis grin didn't leave. "Everyone else thought that the Earth was the center of the universe and hated that he thought the sun was, right?" 

Kyoutani still looked annoyed but he nodded and kept reading. "What two types of motion did Aristotle study?"

"You can say Aristotle but not Copernicus?" Something about that was much funnier than it should be. Maybe it was the pent up energy, maybe it was a way to get rid of some of the nervousness he was feeling, maybe he was just going insane, but Yahaba broke out laughing, and he couldn't stop, despite the look Kyoutani gave him.

"I'm not a moron." He rolled his eyes, looking defensice, somehow causing Yahaba to laugh harder.

"N-no! Of course n-ot!" He spoke between laughs. He didn't want him to think he thought that, but it was impossible for him not to laugh.

"You think that's funny?" Kyoutani tried to make his face look pissed off but Yahaba's laughter was contagious. He smiled fondly at the boy who was rolling around on his bed. "Asshole." 

Unfortunately, he rolled too far forward and completely lost his balance, going head first towards the floor. In a last second attempt to not get a concussion, he tried to roll even farther forward so he'd hit his back and not his head, which worked, but instead of the landing on the unforgiving hardwood floor masked by the thin rug, he'd landed in Kyoutani's outstreched arms. Kyoutani had predicted it perfectly, like he'd known what was about to go down. All he'd had to do was turn his body and put his arms out to catch the brunet in his lap.

Kyoutani winced. "You really need to be more careful. I keep telling you to watch out." 

Yahaba sat there, stunned, in Kyoutani's lap. "How did you do that?"

Kyoutani thought for a second before he responded. "...You're predictable." 

"Predictable? I resent that statement." He folded his arms and narrowed his eyes, leaning in threateningly.

Kyoutani narrowed his eyes too. "You are predictable. You're clumsy as fuck." 

"You can't predict what I'll do next." He said, feeling like a petulant child, but irritated all the same.

"I can't?" Kyoutani raised his voice to match Yahaba's but he seemed confused as to what was pissing him off. He felt as though he was simply stating the obvious, but Yahaba felt personally slighted by the possibility that he, a future captain, could be so easily predicted. 

"No, you can't!" Desperate to prove it, he eached forward and grabbed his ace's face in his hands.

Kyoutani's eyes widened as the brunet leaned forward, pulling his face towards his and crashing their lips together. Their teeth clanged together and the arms that were holding Yahaba slipped out from under him and went up in the air, like they didn't know where to go. After a few beats, Yahaba pulled back, satisfied that he'd made his point. Kyoutani's face was flushed, his lips red, presumably bruised from the impact. His eyes were still wide, and his mouth still agape, as if frozen in time. Yahaba wiped his mouth with a smile. He could feel his heart beating out of his chest as he admired the shocked look on the blond's face. Kyoutani shut his mouth, and shoved Yahaba off of his lap.

"Dick," He muttered as he picked the book back up. "Just answer the question, dipshit." 

Yahaba rubbed his ass. "C'mon, admit it, you didn't expect that."

"No, I did not expect you to randomly kiss me just to prove a fucking point, Yahaba!" Kyoutani threw his hands in the air in defeat, raising his voice as he spoke.

Yahaba blinked, be didnt expect that reaction. "I mean it wasn't totally random..." he sat upright, grabbing the book out of Kyoutani's lap so he had nowhere to look but at him or awkwardly at the floor.

Kyoutani chose to look at Yahaba to confront his problem head-on, which he immediately realized was a mistake, Yahaba's brown eyes were like pools of melted chocolate, so easy to drown in. It didn't help him a single bit. He still didn't appreciate being used to prove a point, and he really didn't appreciate the fact that he was given exactly no heads up beforehand. Unfortunately, it was exactly the type of annoying shit that Yahaba would pull. In order to regain some semblance of control over the situation, he reached out and wrapped his hand around the bottom half of Yahaba's face, holding his chin in place a few inches from his own face.

"Then what. the fuck. was it." He growled, low and scary. 

Yahaba didn't look as affected as Kyoutani would have hoped, but his eyes definitely widened to a significant degree. 

"I am incredibly attracted to you right now." The words spilled out of his mouth before he could stop them. Not that he wanted to, it was the truth, but he would have preferred to be a little more in control. "I mean, not just right now, kinda all the time." He felt infatuated, and the way Kyoutani had grabbed him had been the final straw. 

"...Oh." Kyoutani let go, and Yahaba had to remind himself of his dignity so that he wouldn't whine. 

"Is that all you have to say? Oh?" He leaned back on his hands looking up at the ceiling.

"I think... that you're attractive too." He forced out, even though he was finding it hard to swallow. "Now would you- please- answer the question?"

"Hmm… I like it when you beg." Yahaba smiled his signature shit eating grin, relishing in the embarrassment on the other's face. "But, wouldn't you rather kiss me again, Mad Dog?"

"Desperately." Kyoutani leaned forward and grabbed the back of Yahaba's neck, pulling him closer, just to kiss that stupid grin off of his face. 

◇◇◇

It was a bright spring evening, the year was coming to a close. They were driving back from a very special training camp that the coaches had set up. The bus was packed with 2nd years, 1st years, and prospective players for next year. 

Kyoutani was stuck between two very tired second years. Yahaba held onto his arm as he slept, resting his head on his shoulder, snuggled into the crook of his neck. Watari was tucked underneath his arm, resting on his chest. He wasn't sure exactly how he'd gotten into this situation but he knew that it was Watari and Yahaba's faults. The libero and the captain just happened to have very silver tounges, and Kyoutani was rather susceptible to persuasion. Despite the kind way he treated his friends, he was still crazy and wild on the court, and he demonstrated that today, much to Yahaba's chagrin. He'd have preferred he waited until the prospective members had already made their decision, but he knew deep down he would have no such luck. 

Kyoutani did what he did and he did it well. Sometimes he needed persuasion to cooperate with the team, but Yahaba was happy to supply it. Kyoutani looked around, but seeing that mostly everyone was asleep, he took the chance to bury his nose in his boyfriend's hair. Yahaba shifted in his sleep, readjusting to pull his knees closer, and nuzzle into the crook of his neck. Kyoutani smiled, and watched as Watari stirred just enough from his sleep to make eye contact with him, before he curled back up, letting his feet rest against the wall of the bus and crossing his arms, still wrapped in Kyoutani's other arm. It was like he was demonstrating just how much more relaxed Kyoutani had become with them. 

Kyoutani placed a gentle kiss on Yahaba's head before resting atop it, letting the bumps of the bus rock him to sleep.

They woke up about an hour later, when they arrived back at school. The bus came to a stop and people started moving around the bus, grabbing bags and equipment. Kyoutani shook the two people on his arms to wake them up. Watari rolled out of his arms and stretched, thanking Kyoutani for being a human pillow. Yahaba whined but also rolled up from the seat and grabbed his bag, giving Kyoutani a little scritch scratch above his ear. Kyoutani leaned into the touch but pushed him out of the way so Watari and he could climb out. One of the prospects saw the gap and tried to move forward, and Kyoutani glared at him and shoved his way in front of him. 

"Mad Dog, don't scare the kids." Yahaba grinned mischievously, gesturing him closer with his hand.

The kids looked shocked at the nickname, and looked at Kyoutani with fear in their eyes. Yahaba and Watari could barely contain their laughter, but did their best. Both Kunimi and Kindaichi were still coming around, but they liked the fire that Kyoutani brought to practice. That didn't stop Kindaichi from hiding behind Kunimi after an especially scary spike from the young ace. Kyoutani glared at the kid once more then followed behind Yahaba.

Watari patted the kid on the head reassuringly and followed after them as well. They climbed off the bus and Kyoutani yawned, bumping into Yahaba to get him to recite his captain's spiel for the kids. 

Yahaba introduced them to the Aoba Johsai gym, the locker rooms, and showed them around the school. Watari butted in here and there to gently remind them about the amazing things the school had to offer on the academic side of things. Kunimi and Kindaichi took out some equipment in the gym and set it up for the kids to practice.

Yahaba stood on the sidelines with a clipboard and watched the kids hit the balls over the net, checking their skills. He knew that Oikawa should be there for this, but he had to do it. He had to be the captain, he couldn't live in Oikawa's shadow. Even if he wasn't as great a player as he was, he could be a great captain. Oikawa believed in him, so should he. He called out a few orders and Coach patted him on the back. 

"Well done. You're shaping up to be a good Captain." Then he walked away to help a kid with his serve.

Yahaba beamed and looked around the room. Kyoutani was serving, his form insane but also fantastic. Whenever he jumped it looked like his back was snapping in half. It was worrisome but impressive as hell. He looked somehow majestic and terrifying at the same time. His natural talent was so unexplored, Yahaba was sure that he was going have to fight to bring it out. The blond was smart, and strong, and had the stubbornness of a bull, but all of those things made him an exceptional athlete, one that could go pro with a little push. 

"What are you looking at, weirdo?" Yahaba snapped back to reality and realized he was leaning on the wall beside the court, drifting off into space. Kyoutani was in front of him, his eyes soft and questioning. 

"Hm... just my amazing and super cool boyfriend who is definitely gonna buy me dinner?" He grinned, tilting his head to the side.

Kyoutani snorted. "God, okay cheapskate. I'll buy, s'long as I get to pick the movie tonight."

"Okay, fine, that's a fair deal" He reached his hand out for a shake. 

Kyoutani grabbed it and pulled him into a kiss. "I was gonna buy you dinner anyway, Shigeru." Then he turned to head back to the group. 

Yahaba felt his heart flutter. He was sickeningly sweet. They'd been dating for a while now, and everyone knew it, but they still tried to be a little lowkey about their relationship. They had a routine now, every day they would take the bus home, but some days they'd switch it up and go to the other person's home. Yahaba had met his mom, sister, and dad when he went to go make tamales with them (something Kyoutani arranged), and Kyou had met his parents and brothers when he came over to study a couple more times. Both of their families were supportive and sweet, and after meeting Kyoutani's family he could tell where he got his respect and kindness from, and also his disrespect and chaoticness. He also understood that Kyou's family wasn't as verbal about their feelings as his was.

Kyou always held his hand when they were on the bus, and when they walked home, and any time he could. He'd joke and say it was to prevent him from falling again, but he squeezed his hand tightly as he said it. He wasn't always great with words, but his actions were a great middle man. He'd buy things, small things, like dinner and movies, and on dates he would always offer to pay for everything, which was ridiculous on his salary, but definitely sweet. He would buy knickknacks he found in stores and would make little snacks for games or after practice. When they watched tv together he would hold on just a little tighter and bury his face in his hair or his neck, keep him close. His feelings were obvious, even if he wasn't vocal about them. The thing was, Yahaba was more vocal.

Yahaba pushed himself up from the wall. "Hey."

Kyoutani turned to look at him, still moving backwards but slower.

"I love you." 

Kyoutani's eyes widened and he stood in shock, like his brain was processing the words like a 2003 Dell computer. But, he didn't get the chance to before he was beamed in the back of the head with a stray ball. Because of the shock he lost his balance, falling forward towards Yahaba. Yahaba dropped the clipboard, ran forward and caught him before he hit the ground, pulling him back onto his feet and then examining him for head injuries.

"Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god." He looked him up and down.

He could see behind him one of the kids was getting scolded by Watari, but he already looked like he was on the verge of tears. If Watari would make him cry he stood no chance against Yahaba's anger. He glared at him and was gonna open his mouth to lecture him, but Kyoutani cut him off.

"Hey, hey." Kyoutani grabbed his arms. "I'm fine, don't go scaring the kids, dummy." He echoed his words back at him. "I've been hit by worse stray balls than that. He has a good arm though."

He didn't look angry, he looked worried. He was rubbing Yahaba's arms in order to calm him down, and it was working.

"Why do you look worried? I'm the one that should look worried." Yahaba questioned. Kyoutani didn't answer, but gave him a soft smile.

The coach walked up beside them. "You guys have done a lot of work this weekend, I can handle the rest." 

Yahaba nodded his thanks and they headed out, changing his shoes and waiting for Kyoutani to change into his casual clothes. They started walking home in their comfortable silence, hands intertwined. About halfway to the bus stop Kyoutani stopped. 

"C'mon, this way to get dinner." 

"Kentarou... we don't have to get something right now."

"I want to, how could you say no to your injured boyfriend?" He raised his eyebrows, crossing his arms.

Yahaba sighed and threw his arms over Kyoutani's shoulders. Kyoutani wrapped his arms around the brunet's waist and buried his face in the crook of his neck. 

"I love you too." He muttered.

Yahaba pulled his face back to look at him. "Really?"

Kyoutani snorted. "What kind of response is that? Of course I do."

Yahaba placed their foreheads together and laughed. "I guess you could say I 'fell for you'"

"Ugh, just kiss me you fucking nerd." He threw his head back in exasperation.

"Gladly." Yahaba smiled and kissed him softly. "I'm glad I fell for you." He muttered against his lips.

Kyoutani hummed and deepened the kiss.

In his personal opinion, it was the best kiss in the world.


End file.
